MEET YOUR CREW:
CAPTAIN: Heiko Franken
CHEF: Carolina (Cat) Deseta
FIRST MATE/STEWARDESS/SCUBA DIVE INSTRUCTOR: Rebecca Wu
Returning crew Heiko and Rebecca (3 Sisters, Felix, Tedavi, Big Nauti, Sail Away) are back for their sixth charter season in the Virgin Islands after five successful seasons running 75+charters. This dynamic couple is excited to be on Encore and look forward to welcoming you aboard, showing you the wonders of the Virgin Islands and creating memories to last a lifetime!
They are passionate about providing a highly professional level of service in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere while creating the most memorable experiences for their guests. They love getting to know you and tailoring each charter to your preferences and desires, allowing
you to kick back, relax and enjoy. With a deep love and respect for the natural world, they maintain a strong focus on environmentally aware hospitality and best practices to ensure minimal impact on the environment.
Heiko, born and raised in Germany, holds a RYA Yachtmaster Ocean qualification. He has been working as a professional yacht captain for five years and has crossed the Atlantic Ocean. He left his job in IT management in 2014 to begin his dream to travel. Initially intending to be away for about a year, he soon realized that going back to an office-based job did not feel right for him anymore. Since then he has travelled throughout South and Central America, Europe, Southeast Asia, Africa and Australia. During this time he visited 30+ countries, speed-hiked the Camino de Santiago, hiked up 5000m high mountains, learned to speak Spanish, learned to scuba dive and freedive and had many more beautiful experiences above and below the water. His love for freediving and yoga led him to obtain his instructor qualifications. Afterwards, he worked as a freediving instructor, spearfishing guide and yoga instructor in Indonesia, Australia, Thailand and Tanzania for four years before venturing into yachting. Heiko loves to be out in the blue of the ocean and enjoys sharing his passions as a guide by creating safe and unique experiences.
Born in South Africa to Argentine parents, Cat grew up in a home where food was culture, connection, and celebration. Barbecues were a way of life, and exploring flavours was a family ritual. This multicultural upbringing made her naturally warm, friendly, adaptable, and endlessly curious about the world.
Her love for gastronomy was shaped in Cape Town — one of the most eclectic culinary destinations in the world. A historic crossroads where explorers once traded spices, it became her training ground for flavours from Greek to Indian, Italian to Malaysian, French to Lebanese, and everything in between. Her mother was a nutritionist, so cooking for health came just as naturally as cooking for pleasure. From a young age, Carolina could walk into a kitchen and create anything she desired, and that passion only deepened over time.
Before yachting swept her away at 20, she lived a life of adventure in tourism and hospitality. She worked in Michelin-star restaurants, led mountain and canyon tours, cooked on safari, built adventure races, and served exceptional wine and whiskey in Cape Town’s finest establishments. She carried that love for people, service, and excellence into every chapter of my life.
Yachting became home the moment she stepped onboard. With nearly 90,000 nautical miles under her belt — including a passage through the legendary Roaring Forties sailing from Cape Town to Australia — she has crossed oceans, fished for dinner in remote anchorages, provisioned in the most unique corners of the world, and learnt to create beautiful meals anywhere, anytime.
She later opened a Healthy Bistro in Yucatán, Mexico, sourcing local produce and designing a menu for vegans, vegetarians, and gluten-free guests. Working with Mexican partners taught her even more about local flavours, fair trade, and how food connects cultures.
Rebecca is originally from New York City but considers herself a citizen of the world, having lived a nomadic lifestyle for over two decades. After graduating from NYU, she worked in investment banking, first in New York and then Hong Kong. A trip to Australia in 2005 changed her life - she learned to scuba dive on the Great Barrier Reef and fell completely in love with scuba diving. Two years later, she left the concrete jungle and trading floor for real jungles and sea floors. She spent two months diving her way around the Philippines, three
months on a marine conservation expedition in Madagascar and four months completing her Divemaster internship in Malaysia. Then, life took an unexpected turn and she found herself living in Sweden, where she discovered her love for sailing. Still holding on to her dream to
teach scuba and share the underwater world with others, she put her plans for sailing on hold and became a PADI Instructor in 2009, working in Thailand, Hawaii and Indonesia for a decade. Afterwards, she embarked on her third career as a yacht chef, enabling her to
combine her long-standing passion for gastronomy with her passion for sailing and life at sea. After four years, she decided it was time to step out of the galley in order to fully embrace the role of a dedicated Stewardess/Deckhand/Dive Instructor on larger yachts. She
loves life on the ocean, surrounded by water, nature and wildlife and thrives on sharing these passions with her guests.
Heiko and Rebecca met in Utila, Honduras while they were doing their Master Freediver course in 2015. After being in a long-distance relationship for several years, they decided to create a life together. Their mutual love for the ocean, travel and exploration led them to
obtain their RYA Yachtmaster Offshore qualifications together in Gibraltar in 2020, sailing thousands of miles along the coasts of Spain, Portugal and Morocco, dodging the infamous orcas along the way. Shortly afterwards, they crewed their first yacht together in the USVI
and have been flourishing as a team ever since.
This amazing trio is guaranteed to give you the vacation of a lifetime in this beautiful destination - the British Virgin Islands.
